


Heartbeats In The Stars

by TeaLovingTooru



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (Keith's Given Name Is Actually Keito But Lance Somehow Decided With Keith-), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Ancient History, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Torture, Japanese Keith (Voltron), Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 15:52:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13639428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaLovingTooru/pseuds/TeaLovingTooru
Summary: What is a heartbeat? A sign we live? A pulse in our chest that alarms us of what we’ve done?A heartbeat is defined as an animating or vital unifying force. It ties us to the body which we are given at birth until the day we perish, the day it stops beating. But what happens when that beating stops? Your body will begin to decompose, of course… your soul will descend to the stars and you will be remembered by your family and friends, if you have them… otherwise you go unremembered, a practical myth.[Or:]The AU where Keith is the heir to the Japanese royal family in the Ancient Times™, but his family is slaughtered one night, leaving him alone. But not for long.





	Heartbeats In The Stars

_What is a heartbeat? A sign we live? A pulse in our chest that alarms us of what we’ve done?_

_A heartbeat is defined as an animating or vital unifying force. It ties us to the body which we are given at birth until the day we perish, the day it stops beating. But what happens when that beating stops? Your body will begin to decompose, of course… your soul will descend to the stars and you will be remembered by your family and_ friends, _if you have them… otherwise, you go unremembered, a practical fantasy._

 

_So what happens when the only family you have ever known has been ripped from your grip, their heartbeats ripped from their chests as you were hidden in a closet by the one you depended on to teach you nearly everything?_

 

 _What happens when all you know is torn from you…? When the last thing you heard before the screams were the promise that he’d be back for you? That he would come back and get you when the bad men were gone? When you realize after an unknown amount of waiting and crying for him, he wasn’t coming_ _back…?_

 

_You would assuredly crack, lose your own heartbeat in a metaphorical sense, even if you wished that, too, were real, or that the rest was not..._

 

**_You would be living the life of young Prince Kogane Keito._ **

 

* * *

 

It was a day like any of the rest, with the added tension of a birthday celebration he did not want. 

 

He did not like to be the centre of attention. He did not like the feeling that people were staring at him and analyzing every piece of his form and posture. After all, he had been given lessons to perfect those things, they should find nothing... but someone always had something to say. To some he was too skinny, others he was too fat... terrible. His image shouldn't even matter to anyone. He was still just a child, not yet presented and still under the legal age to wed for those who never do. 

 

But he was seen as a body. Something to bask in as he'd grown. Questions had been raised as well, a near betting pool over the youngest Prince's secondary coming to life among the public and even his father's officials and his mother's posse. 

 

It was the topic of conversation now.

 

"Keito-sama, do you have any thoughts on your presentation?" A woman wearing enough makeup to be a courtesan spoked suddenly, breaking the shy young man out of his stupor. 

 

"Well, I suppose I try not to think too much about it one way or another." He smiled slightly in the way he taught was sweet and polite. "Whatever happens is up to the fate of the gods and I believe I should not get accustomed to the idea of one secondary over the others."

 

The woman seemed stunned into silence for a moment before she clicked her tongue and sauntered away, clinging to the arm of a man Keito had never seen before. It was nothing strange. His father was always making new acquaintances, so that was probably one of those. He wondered if that woman really was a courtesan. 

 

"Keito-chan, you really shouldn't furrow your brow like that. You'll get wrinkles and Okaa-san will be angry." A voice tinted with a jovial tune spoke up, a small hand placed on his shoulder as his eyes finally landed on his brother.

 

"'Keito-chan'? Would you mind not calling me that...? It's embarrassing..." He felt himself flushing, turning his nose up at the suffix that the Alpha used, even if he knew the older male didn't do it to tease him or make fun. 

 

"Oh? Is it because you are thirteen now, 'Keito-sama'? Or is their someone you are trying to impress?" His brother laughed, voice dropping at the name their subjects and peers would use in conversation with the now teenager. 

 

"Oh, that is foul." He laughed, eyes crinkling as he lifted his drink to his lips with a genuinely fond smile. "Please, never call me that again."

 

"Whatever you say, Keito-chan."

 

"I swear to the gods, Shiro-"

 

"You do what now, Keito-chan?" His mother's tone snapped from the seat next to his, making him bow his head in slight embarrassment. 

 

"I'm sorry, Okaa-san..."

 

"Mm. Just do not say it again, darling. That is rude and improper, not to mention disrespectful to them." The omegan man gestured to the sky above him, the veranda opening to the night sky and it's beautifully painted stars. 

 

"Say... Okaa-san...?"

 

"Yes, Keito-chan?" The voice was warmer now, soft with the adoration he figured only a mother could have.

 

"I-I know that I am older now... nearly an adult, but... tonight, when we all go to sleep, will you maybe... tell me that story again? The one about lovers who meet through the stars...?"

 

"Keito-chan..." There was a sigh, then a hand on his own, squeezing gently. Upon looking up, he found the eyes so familiar to his own, carrying a warmth that he again thought only a mother could have. "You will always be my baby boy... no matter how old you get." 

 

"Okaa-san..." He groaned, only to be lightly cuffed on the head by his mother who hissed about propriety and telling him to focus on his guests again.

 

He heard his brother snicker.

 

He bristled. 

 

* * *

 

 

It was later in the night, after guests had begun to leave to their inns or, if they were guests to the castle for the weekend, returned to their rooms. 

 

His mother had kept his promise, taking his hand and leading him down the hallway towards his bedchambers as he lightly held a hand on the underside of his rounding belly. 

 

These occurrences were rare, he knew. His mother loved his sleep, especially these days and he never missed a minute unless he had to. This meant that he was sacrificing his sleep in order to make him happy. 

 

He was incredibly lucky to have a mother who took such good care of him. 

 

He appreciated her so much.

 

They'd become situated in the room, making themselves comfortable on the futon after the omega had helped him undress from those complicated robes and then into something for sleep. 

 

"The story is as such, my young prince-"

 

"Okaa-san!" A loud shout boomed as Shiro came into the room, alerting the two of them that something was very wrong. 

 

"Shiro- what happened? You look like you've-"

 

"It's father! Someone has... someone has killed him and... and they're in the castle... they want all of us dead..." The young Alpha's had shrunk and suddenly a loud cry filled the room. 

 

This was a sound they'd all heard before. They'd heard it whenever their grandmother had died and their grandfather had been left alone to live the rest of his days without his mate. 

 

_It was the sound of a persons' very soul splitting. The sound of one mate being ripped away from the other by the cruel hands of fate._

 

_It was happening to his mother now..._

 

Keito knew, as upsetting and heart wrenching as it was that he could truthfully not do anything but watch as it happened. Watch as their bond was severed.

 

_"In the heavens, just within the stars, their bond will be resealed and their hearts will be filled as though it had never been broken-"_

 

He remembered the verse from the story he should be hearing right now and he began to cry, cursing the world for being so unfair. 

 

"O-Okaa-san..." He sniffled, suddenly realizing just what his brother had said. "Shiro... d-did you say that... that they wanted us all...  _dead..._?"

 

At the Alpha's grim nod, he felt his heart shatter. 

 

"B-But... what about you...? What about Okaa-san and the... the pup...?"

 

Shiro didn't respond. 

 

"Onii-san! Say something!" Keito hadn't called him that in years and he prayed that it would get his brothers attention that he had.

 

But it hadn't.

 

The Alpha just seemed to be plotting a plan, hoping to figure out some kind of plan that could fix all of this, reverse the whole night... and Keito would be ready to get on his knees and pray at the shrine for eternity if it simply all went away.

 

"S-Shiro... my son..." Their mother suddenly spoke once more, his voice creaking and shaky as his lips wobbled and his eyes watered. "Promise me... no matter what happens... that you will save and protect Keito..."

 

"Okaa-san..."

 

"Do as I say, my love... I know you can do it. I raised you well..."

 

Keito hated that it sounded like a goodbye. 

 

Because it was and he knew it.

 

"But Okaa-san!" He yelled, grabbing onto his robe and sobbing aloud. "There has to be a different way, we can't just- we can't just die here!"

 

"Keito-chan... my beautiful b-baby boy... oh, you look just like him but with my eyes..." He groaned, making the young prince sob when he realized it was a sound he had never heard and never would again at this rate. "You... you will not die here. Your story isn't over, my precious son-"

 

"N-Neither is yours! Please, Okaa-san... don't just leave yourself out of the life..."

 

"My mate is gone... and from that idea... most of me is too. Keito-chan, I am not meant to live without him-"

 

"But-"

 

"Shush now, child. This is my final order. You will listen to me this one last time, do you understand? I am your mother." The man cried, voice becoming shrill in the fear that his child wouldn't listen and wouldn't understand. 

 

"O-Okaa-san... I'm s-scared..."

 

"Me too, Keito... me too..." 

 

And there was a silence they couldn't name, something somber and awkward, yet comforting in the idea that this was their family and that with the supposed exception of Keito, they would all end together as well in a dignified glory...

 

"Shiro... hide him."

 

"W-What...?" He asked.

 

"I said to hide him. I want you to take him and lock him in my robe trunk. They shouldn't find him there... I suddenly am truly thanking the gods for his short size and the fact that he doesn't have a scent..."

 

"Okaa-san..." 

 

"It'll be ok. Take him. I will... go to him... I want to be next to him when it happens, if it is... meant to happen..."

 

"Okaa-san... what about the pup-"

 

"Shiro... the moment my soul split... I don't think he had much of a chance since... he stopped."

 

A sniffle...

 

It was one that didn't belong to his mother... nor him...

 

It was Shiro...

 

"Come here, boys... this will be... the last time..."

 

For one last time, Kogane Kitsune held his children to his chest, kissing their heads twice each before he stood up and began to walk slowly.

 

"O-Okaa-san...?" The man turned around. "U-Um... I know I never cared, but... what do you think of me...?"

 

"Oh, sweetheart..." He chuckled, wiping away a tear. "I think only a fool would realize you anything other than an omega, Keito."

 

Then he was gone. His mother had vanished from the room and he had been left in a shocked silence.

 

"Mothers intuition..." Shiro laughed somberly, quietly holding Keito's hand and pulling him off of the futon. 

 

"W-What... um, what about you...?"

 

Shiro didn't answer again.

 

"Onii-san-"

 

"Keito. I promised Okaa-san to protect you. I don't care about me, so just keep your mouth shut for a minute and come on."

 

He suddenly missed the '-chan' being tacked on to the end...

 

They made it to the room where Keith knew his mother's prized trunk to be. The place where he kept his wedding robes and the robes he wore to the most special events... he hated the idea of laying on top of them, soiling them on accident with his ill tears. He tried not to flinch when he heard the sound of a sword cutting through the air, followed by a choked cry and the sound of a body toppling to the ground. 

 

_Okaa-san... no..._

 

And he began to sob. He tried to be quiet, to stop choking on his breaths, but he hadn't been proficient enough, because within a second, he was in Shiro's arms and being carried across the floor and sat in front of the trunk as his brother opened it with a practised carefulness. And then he was being placed inside, Shiro helping him arrange his limbs so he would be comfortable despite the lack of room and the odd circumstance. 

 

He looked at his brother for what he knew might be the very last time, sniffling and wailing as his large eyes pleaded. "O-Onii-san... p-please don't l-leave me...!"

 

And the Alpha's eyes softened once again then, carting his brother back into his arms for a hug that Keith needed so badly he felt he could die. 

 

"Keito-chan... I will be right back for you. I promise."

 

He sucked in his lip and he closed his eyes, settling back into the trunk and holding back a sob when he heard the case top be placed over his head. 

 

_Don't leave me... you promised..._

 

* * *

 

 

It was hard to say how long he'd been inside... time rushes when your family is being slaughtered right outside of your hiding place. 

 

He remembered that at some point, someone had come into the room, but the scent that permeated the air was most certainly not Shiro's. He'd held his breath, using the sleeve of his mother's favourite kimono to cover his mouth and nose lightly, muffling the sound and trying his best not to move even a centimetre. 

 

And it worked. The person was gone just as quick as they had come, leaving Keito alone once more. 

 

That was when reality began to sink in.

 

_His father was dead... his mother was dead... and Shiro... well... he hoped the same could not be said for Shiro too..._

 

But after what the young prince knew was multiple hours of silence, no doors opening or closing... he got out. 

 

With a shaky pair of legs, he climbed over the lip of the trunk after pushing off the lid, foot almost slipping as it touched the tatami flooring. He took a moment to steady himself before he took a deep breath, stepping away from the trunk and into the room that was now filled with daylight. 

 

He crept out of the open door, breath catching when even his underdeveloped nose could catch the thick scent of blood and death... 

 

_Oh, gods..._

 

He plugged his nose, ignoring the idea creeping in his brain that the scent particles were travelling into his lungs and the urge to vomit as he continued down the large hallway. He saw things he didn't wish to, never thought he would really have to.

 

He saw the unmoving bodies of their palace guards, puddles of blood marinating on the floor, which he carefully manuevered away from and over. 

 

He passed the room he knew his parents to be and felt the tears well up when he saw blood seeping into the tatami and his mothers light green shoe on the floor away from him. He looked away and kept walking.

 

"Shiro...? Where are you...?"

 

He swallowed, stopping in his steps when he saw a ripped up piece of Shiro's bed robes.

 

There were no signs of life, no sounds to give a signal to where he was...

 

He was just...  _gone._

 

"You... p-promised..."

 

_You promised._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
